Category Archives: Game Dev

With the global video games market worth almost $100 billion, and Africa, Europe and the Middle East contributing $23.5 billion to the pot , it’s clear that gaming is good business. This alone is a great reason for local indie studios to develop their own games and showcase them at rAge, via the popular home_coded stand. They’re doing it with heart too, because some of the local developers are not only interested in their sharing passion for gaming, but are also giving back to some seemingly unlikely local causes.

A few months ago, our fearless leader Dane wrote an article about an “eyeball-grabbing” game called Tokyo 42. After returning my eyes back to their sockets, I reached out to SMAC Games, the developers, who were kind enough to answer a few questions. Besides being awesome people in general, SMAC Games’ founders are orignally from Cape Town. Hit the jump for our exclusive interview with them.

For all the stress it generates here at NAG, rAge is always a magical, magical thing to be a part of. Walking through the Dome late Sunday afternoon after all the visitors have been ushered out, it’s eerily quiet compared to the thunderous bustle that permeated the show floor just hours before. There’s a sense of silent (and sometimes not-so-silent) jubilation as the exhausted exhibitors slowly empty their stands, eager to head home and regain some semblance of normalcy after a manic, but brilliant weekend. It’s a lot like the morning after a wild night: the world’s spinning, you can barely remember a thing, you’ve got a weird rash on your nipples and you’re left wondering how it all happened so fast – but you know you had a great time. It’s intensely bittersweet.

See, rAge is naturally inspiring. It effortlessly generates unforgettable memories, and if you let it, it’ll introduce you to countless new people and experiences, and remind you why the local games industry can be a wondrous thing. If you need proof of that, just look at the inaugural NAG Jam.

Wow. What a week this has been. In amongst all the endless chaos that inevitably arises from preparing for rAge 2015, we decided to host our very first game jam. We did that during a time when we barely have a moment to brush our teeth. Somehow, we thought that was a good idea. What were we thinking?

I joke, of course. It was a great idea, and we’ve had a blast playing and judging the various entries that were submitted on Sunday night.

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